The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1887-05-28
THE CHURCH IN AMERICA.
An Able and Conclusive Lecture Re.
Gently Delivered by Rev. r. 81.
Burke, of Worcester, Mass.
THE CHURCH is NOT UNKNOWN

In the Walks of Science and Patriotism
She is in the Vanguard to Preserve
the Liberties and Homes.
Rev. r. S. j. Burke, Of Worcester,
Mass, lectured not long since at Me-
chanics' Hall, that city, on the subject
of the Relation of the Catholic Church
to the American Republic" The lecture
was full of eloquence and instruction.
In the course ofit the reverend lecturer
said:
''Every man esteems his honor, his
Church and his country. No Church is
held to 50 tenaciously by her children as
the Catholic Church, and no country is
priced more highly by that Church than
America. The true, practical, unfinch-
ing members Of one make efficient and
|:loyal citizens Of the other.
''In wise counsel, daring bravery,
literature, science and sacrifice in
America, the Catholic Church is inferior
to none ia her claims on this country.
Even now by her example, experience
and influence, she is in the vanguard to
preserve the liberties and homes. There
is pre-Columbian history of America
which is Catholic. In 1866 a Catholic
missionary lived in Vineland, AMI not
far from where the State House now
stands, and Faneuil Hal] rocked for lib
erty, was sacrificed the first Catholic
martyr in New England.
"The blood Of n Catholic martyr hal
lowed the soil of New England long be-
fore the arrival uf the Puritans. If the
discovery of America gives any right of
possession it ought to give liberation
and an abode to the religion which
prompted the discovery.
'tIt is possible that he who first dis
covered America may be yet numbered
on the calendar as an American saint.
All the means necessary were furnished
to Columbus by Isabella, the Catholic
Queen of Spain, and in the days of
doubt and gloon Columbus was en-
couraged by a learned monk. Through
Catholic effort and influence the earthly
home Of man was doubled.
"When Isabella was toldtha the King
was still unwilling to fit out Columbus
she was anxious to sell her jewels, Later
when the navigators had reached these
shores, the Catholic cross was the first
emblem planted; the Mass was the first
service. To the Faith of Columbus and
the hope of Isabella do we owe America
1t was left to a son Of the Church to
discover Amer ica, and to daughter Of
the Church to furnish means.
And yet shall we be told that the
Catholic religion has no right here? All
the early discoverers We're Catholics,
and planted the cross in their journeys
through the trackless wilderness. How
sad and appropriate that De Soto should
breathe out his soulon the waters Of the
great Mississippi, which he had discov-
cred and in the midnight air be laid to
rest in it's bosom, and have the mur-
muring waters, as they roll over his
body, sing his requiem forever.
Marquette, the Jesuit missionary,
three of whose brothers afterwards died
in the Revolution, was the pioneer OF
Michigan La Sale, who jourueyed
from BaHin's Bay to the Gulf of Mexico,
was another. Isabella, Queen OF Spain,
became sponsor to the SIX Indians who
returned from these shores to Spain
with Columbus. There are no deeds SO
successful, nor names more glorious,
than those of the early missionaries. |
The dusky red men could not always
understand and appreciate their sub
lime courage in all their sufferings |
They sought the red man in the far
away wilderness to evangelize HIM, un-
til they learned to look upon the black |
gown as their truest friend and wisest
counselor, and so it is today. In Yer
mont the first Catholic was known in
1916.
Among all the names in American
history none is prouder or shows more
than George Calvert or Lord
who settled Maryland. In
1886 two Jesuit priests and 200 English
and Irish Catholic emigrants settled in
Maryland, and they were the only teach
ers and defenders of religious freedom
and toleration..
s'Unmindful is the Catholic who does
not teach his children this. and ungrate-
full the Protestant who does not show
his gratitude. When in every colony
from Maine to Virginia there was the
religious test prescribing the Catholics,
Catholic Maryland offered an asylum to
the prosecuted Puritan and Quaker.
Later, these men who took advantage of
this asylum turned ingrates and sent
out the Catholics. When the Catholics
had again gained the ascendancy, all
who were the leaders Of the rebellion
were turned out, but the rest were par
doned, and Catholic Maryland again be-